Do you know the reason of your unintentional weight gain? If not, let me tell you.

Weight gain can be extremely frustrating, especially when you don't know what's causing it. Often times, making healthy food swaps or adding more physical activity to your daily routine will get you back to whatever a "normal" weight is to you. But sometimes figuring out why you gained weight is trickier than that;

1 Hormone issues - If you're a woman and are dealing with unexplained weight gain, one of the first things you should check out are your hormones. These hormones are the reason mostly, so get a lab work done:-
• Insulin resistance
• Low thyroid
• Low testosterone
• Elevated estrogen
• Elevated cortisol

2 Stress - Now that you know that hormones are an important part of the weight gain puzzle, you should know how stress can play a role. One of the ways it works? Stress affects hormones, which as we've seen can affect weight, not to mention your sleep too. It can lead to eating too little or too much.

3 Lack of sleep - Missing out on quality sleep is one reason why weight gain can creep up on you. When you're sleep deprived, you're probably not that motivated to eat healthy, cook or exercise in the first place. And when you're not getting enough sleep, you're more likely to crave unhealthy foods and eat more because you feel so exhausted.

4 You May Be Retaining Water - While consuming too much salt or certain types of processed foods is the most common culprit of water retention, standing or sitting for too long, hormonal changes that occur around your menstrual cycle, and even certain types of medication can cause increased water retention.

Often times, making healthy food swaps or adding more physical activity to your daily routine will get you back to whatever a "normal" weight is to you. It's not only the food you eat always, it's also the lifestyle you have.